Portable electronic devices such as DVD players, radios, cassette recorders, CD players, personal media players such as Coby Electronics PMP 4320 portable media player, and digital music replay (MP3) devices such as Apple's iPod MP3 player enable users to receive transmissions or to play content essentially wherever and whenever they want. As the recording and video industries have moved from analog to digital technologies, the volume of content that many of these devices can store has increased dramatically. At the same time, the weight and size of these devices has decreased significantly. Accordingly, users are taking these devices to more places and using them for longer amounts of time.
In addition to maximizing storage capabilities while minimizing size, many users desire to personalize the look of their electronic devices. From the manufacturer's standpoint, customization presents a challenge. The manufacturer could offer a limited number of options, e.g., a few different colors, without significantly increasing the cost of manufacturing its goods. Unfortunately, consumers often demand more choices than a handful of different colors. Another challenge is how to provide a large variety of customized choices for the consumer without requiring the retailer to stock large amounts of inventory.
One alternative is for manufacturers to offer consumers the option of ordering customized electronic devices, such as devices with specific designs, insignias, logos, etc. However, this would unduly hamper the ability of the manufacturer to provide a timely product on a cost-effective basis. Moreover, the same consumer may want to be able to change the look of his or her device without needing to purchase a plurality of devices.
Thus, there is a need to provide consumers with a mechanism by which to personalize their electronic devices while being able to permit manufacturers to satisfy this need on a cost effective basis.